Pop Culture

The Spider-Man and Hulk creator spoke to Fresh Air in 1991 about coming up with Spider-Man, inventing new sound effects for his comics and why superheroes have colorful costumes.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "BAD, or the Dumbing of America," by Paul Fussell. In his book, Fussell decries the decline of quality and taste in everything from movies to education. (It's published by Summit Books).

Commentator Maureen Corrigan comments on the latest trends in advertising by Calvin Klein and Timex.

Critic-at-Large Maureen Corrigan reviews Greil Marcus' new book, "Dead Elvis: A Chronicle of a Cultural Obsession." (Doubleday)

Commentator Maureen Corrigan tells us about her latest concession to the sedentary lifestyle...the purchase of a La-Z-Boy recliner.

Time magazine art critic Robert Hughes. Despite his huge influence in the art world, Hughes prides himself on being a perennial outsider in that world. He'll talk about the current state of the arts.

Now that the Cold War's over, Pop culture scholar Michael Barson has written "Better Dead Than Red! A Nostalgic Look At The Golden Years Of Russiaphobia, Red-Baiting, And Other Commie Madness." (Hyperion) It's a look at how popular culture fueled public hysteria during the cold war -- from the Children's Crusade Against Communism bubble gum card series to the Hollywood production "I was a Communist for the F-B-I." By the way... the book is due to arrive in stores on Mayday 1992.

TV critic Bianculli reviews the new HBO show, as satirical comedy that feeds off the current talk show frenzy.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "American Mythologies" by Marshall Blonsky, which seeks to recover the meaning behind the totality of American cultural production, from fast food to news anchors to pornography. Corrigan admires the project, but says Blonsky doesn't seem to like or respect his subjects.

On the occasion of end of the Superman comic, language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg considers the origin of the word "Superman," and how "super" began to be used in other ways.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan tells us about her trip to the auto show.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg on Eurocentric culture.

At the recent Public Radio Conference in San Antonio, Texas, three Fresh Air arts reviewers swapped stories at a critics forum. Rock critic, Ken Tucker; commentator and book critic, Maureen Corrigan; and TV critic, David Bianculli, offered their thoughts on issues such as media hype and how to deal with it. They shared anecdotes about angry subjects of negative reviews who seek revenge against the reviewer. That panel discussion will be aired today.

Writer for the Village Voice and The Nation Pagan Kennedy. Kennedy ("Pagan" is not her real first name) has staked out a niche for herself as a "1970's survivor and devotee." Kennedy has written an investigation of that decade, seen through its artifacts and social upheaval, "Platforms: A Microwaved Cultural Chronicle of the 1970's" (St. Martins). In the 70's she says, "we inherited this idea of recycling culture.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews "Where the Girls Are" by media theorist Susan J. Douglas.

Susan Douglas is a professor of media and American studies at Hampshire College. She has just written a book “Where the Girls Are,” that looks at women in baby-boomer pop culture. She explains how the media’s alternating images of stereotypical femininity and feminism created a kind of “schizophrenia” in American women. She talks about how this confusion has caused ambivalence in American women about what feminism means.

China scholar Orville Schell has written nine books about China, as well as contributed to magazines and television. His latest book, "Mandate of Heaven," examines the Tiananmen Square massacre and looks at how the younger generation will come to power. He says popular culture has become the newest arena for dissent and political change.

Walter Winchell was the man who legitimized gossip columns, tabloid news, and celebrity watching. He rose from a poor New York family to become one of the most read columnists, and eventually consulted with F.D.R. and Joe McCarthy. Writer Neal Gabler has written a biography about Winchell. "Winchell: Gossip, Power, and the Culture of Celebrity" helps explain the man who was the source of our current celebrity-obsessed culture.

Journalist Leslie Savan writes about television advertising. Her new book, "The Sponsored Life," reveals "how commercial values infiltrate our beliefs and desires, how we become more and more sponsored."

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg considers who was and is now considered a visionary.